CONTRAPTION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does contraption mean? 

• CONTRAPTION (noun)
  The noun CONTRAPTION has 1 sense:

1. a device or control that is very useful for a particular job

  Familiarity information: CONTRAPTION used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CONTRAPTION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A device or control that is very useful for a particular job

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

appliance; contraption; contrivance; convenience; gadget; gismo; gizmo; widget

Hypernyms ("contraption" is a kind of...):

device (an instrumentality invented for a particular purpose)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "contraption"):

gadgetry (appliances collectively)

gimbal (an appliance that allows an object (such as a ship's compass) to remain horizontal even as its support tips)

injector (a contrivance for injecting (e.g., water into the boiler of a steam engine or particles into an accelerator etc.))

mod con (modern convenience; the appliances and conveniences characteristic of a modern house)

 Context examples 

I rigged up a contraption to hold off those stinking beasts, and I spent a happy day there with a spud.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

"It's the only contraption that'll ever hold One Ear," he said.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Gosh, in a wide-open contraption like that!

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“An’ of course the dogs can hike along all day with that contraption behind them,” affirmed a second of the men.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Speculations have included the idea that the star swallowed a planet that it is unstable, and a more imaginative theory involves a giant contraption or megastructure built by an advanced civilization, which could be harvesting energy from the star and causing its brightness to decrease.

(Mysterious Dimming of Tabby's Star May Be Caused by Dust, NASA)